ZHENGZHOU， March 17 (Xinhua) -- Li Xiangting knew there must be something wrong with their party secretary， Wu Shulan， since he had not heard from her in two months.

Wu， 60， brought hope to 2，000 locals who were trapped in a cycle of deep poverty in the mountainous Xiwanglou village in central China's Henan Province since she took charge of local poverty-relief work in 2014.

To Li， 70， the disappearance of Wu was odd， as the illiterate old man knew how often she came.

Over the past two years， Li marked all of Wu's visits with a line on his door. In 2014 he drew 25 lines; last year it was 42.

Asking around， he learned that Wu was recovering from heart surgery， but was relieved to see her in stable condition in hospital.

Wu has made her name by helping people escape poverty.

In 2010， while working at the provincial poverty relief office， she offered to take the job as party secretary in her home village， poverty-hit Dawuzhuang in Henan.

Back then， she was the only female and the oldest of a first batch of 19 officials in the province responding to the country's call for higher-level officials to assist in poverty-relief in rural areas.

She was surprised to find her village had not changed in 32 years.

"There is no road， the primary school is still shabby，" Wu wrote in her diary.

Dawuzhuang is in a typical plain area in Henan. For centuries， local residents have fed themselves by growing grain， such as corn and wheat.

But low literacy and lack of industry kept the region in extreme poverty. It was as if there was no way out.

In 2010， over half of Dawuzhuang's 1，700-plus residents survived on an annual income of about 2，600 yuan (377 U.S. dollars) per person， below the national poverty line of 2，300 yuan.

China has targeted eradicating poverty by 2020， but it is an arduous task given that there were still 43.35 million people living in poverty at the end of last year.

For grassroots-level officials like Wu， escaping poverty is not the stuff of empty words but something to be carried-out step by step.

To raise startup funds for a dairy farm and textile mill in the village， Wu withdrew all her savings and called her daughter， who works in Beijing， countless times to borrow money.

"Once my daughter came to see me， the first thing she said was 'Mom， I don't have a penny，'" Wu said.

During her tenure in Dawuzhuang between 2010 and 2013， she arranged for the repairing of the the school， building of 11 roads and opening of a nursing home. The average per capita annual income in Dawuzhuang doubled to 5，600 yuan， and 76 families were lifted out of poverty.

But overwork hurt Wu's health. She suffers from diabetes and renal dysfunction， but has chosen to stay on the front line.

Xiwanglou village where she works now is even poorer.

With a population of 2，000， many people in the village live in isolated mountain areas， without roads. Children had to hike several kilometers to school every day.

To raise local incomes， Wu arranged a 28-km mountain route for hikers， as well as a 107 hectare farm growing prunella vulgaris， an herbaceous plant used to treat wounds， which is expected to bring in an annual income of 6.4 million yuan.

She also helped local entrepreneurs receive bank loans of over 3 million yuan to start their own business and build roads to give locals access to the outside world.